Chapter 7

Ares felt like shit. Zia disappeared through the crowd, and he rubbed at the sudden tightness in his chest.

Using his magic was a last resort, but what choice did he have? He had personally stopped her from being drugged at the auction, removed a bomb from the car Corven had given her, and taken out a sniper on the roof of the building beside them. He had watched the fucker line up the shot of her in the garden with Erik and had torn his throat out just before the sniper had squeezed the trigger. The shot had gone wide, and neither Erik nor Zia had noticed. Zia had waved off the shot like it was a bug, for god"s sake. He almost lost a year of his life at that moment.

Ares had pushed down all his revulsion and forced himself into the party out of worry about what would happen to her amongst such a crowd of reprobates.

Ares knew sending her back to Crete was best for her. Gods knew what this city would do to her if she stayed. That was after whatever his fucking siblings had planned.

"Ah, Ares, I thought that was you. What the fuck are you doing in my house?" Erik asked, crossing the grass with bare feet. He was fucked up on drugged blood and who knew what else.

"I was here to see Zia. I am just leaving," he said.

Erik gave him a wonky smile. "And where is our sweet cousin? I"ve organized someone to take her virginity for her. Poor thing has probably had slim pickings in that village of hers. I would do the deed myself—gods, she"s pretty enough—but there"re some lines even I won"t cross with her being family and all…"

"If you lay a hand on her, I"ll cut your fucking fingers off," Ares snarled.

Erik stumbled back from him in surprise before bursting out laughing. "Ohhhh, what"s this? You actually like the ditzy bitch, don"t you?"

"She"s no threat to you or any of us. Call off whatever plans you and Camille have for her, or I swear on the Styx that we will have a very different kind of conversation."

Erik rolled his eyes. "Gooooddd, you"re a drag. Just fuck her already. Your lips are already on her ass."

Ares"s fist lashed out of its own accord, decking Erik with one hit. His sibling hit the grass and didn"t move. Ares fought not to give him a kick. The fucking asshole wouldn"t even remember it the next day.

And Corven still thought he was a decent candidate for running the family. It was insulting.

Ares didn"t hang around. He strode out of the villa to where he'd parked his Jag. He needed to get home and wash off the night and find a way to numb the feeling he had done wrong by using his magic on Zia.

It was for her own protection, whether she realized it or not, he told himself. Corven would understand when he told him that Zia had gone back to Crete. It was the best for all of them.

She had only been there for two days, and he was so on edge, he felt like he had ants under his skin. Her very presence was abrasive, rubbing against him at every opportunity.

Despite that irritation, he had wanted to rip Erik"s stupid head off for suggesting he take her virginity. The very thought of anyone touching her made Ares"s want to cut their dicks off and stuff them down their throats.

"Stop. She"s gone. Just get your shit together," he whispered. He pulled up at the Volso building and reached for his key card. He swore again, remembering he had given Zia his jacket.He parked the car and went to security. They quickly gave him a replacement key, and he headed upstairs.

Ares had barely slept the night before, and he had already missed his steam session by being at Erik"s stupid party. He groaned, knowing he would have to go and have one despite it being a major pain in his ass.

Ares didn"t look at the black door on the other side of his floor. Guilt was like a hot breath on his neck. No, no, no. He had done the right thing. Ares opened his door and froze. He could smell something strange in the air. It was Zia"s perfume.

"What the fuck…" he whispered and switched his lights on. His small pocket of calm had been violated. His blood went cold and then hot. His carefully arranged apartment was all wrong.

The pictures on the walls were in different places; the pillows on his couches were in the wrong order. He walked into the kitchen. All his utensils had been rearranged, the pots and pans hanging in different places.

He hurried into his bedroom and yanked open his wardrobe doors. His cufflinks and watches were jumbled; all his black clothes were in a mess instead of arranged by sleeve length. Ares roared in rage and annoyance. Zia"s scent was over everything. Red seeped into his vision, and he stormed out of the apartment and across the foyer. He banged on Zia"s door so hard, the wood dented.

"Zia! You get your ass out here!" he shouted, slamming his palm on the door again."I know it was you!"

Zia opened the door. She was dressed in cotton sleep shorts and a singlet, her hair pulled up in another infuriating ponytail. "What"s wrong cousin? You"re looking a bit flushed."

Ares was going to kill her. He slammed her up against the wall and sank his fangs into her neck.